Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Stake in Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Ball Co. (NYSE:BALL - Free Report) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 176,397 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 21,670 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.06% of Ball worth $9,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ball during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $190,105,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ball during the 4th quarter valued at $94,861,000. First Merchants Corp raised its position in Ball by 1,335.8% in the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 619,205 shares of the company's stock worth $34,137,000 after purchasing an additional 576,078 shares during the period. LBP AM SA raised its position in Ball by 124.4% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 587,099 shares of the company's stock worth $32,367,000 after purchasing an additional 325,497 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ball by 4.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,954,876 shares of the company's stock worth $453,144,000 after purchasing an additional 309,587 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ball Trading Down 3.1 %

Ball stock traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $47.10. 3,945,770 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,053,021. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $51.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.20. Ball Co. has a 52-week low of $46.14 and a 52-week high of $71.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

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Ball (NYSE:BALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.03. Ball had a net margin of 33.98% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Ball's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ball Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Ball's payout ratio is presently 6.32%.

Ball declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 29th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 24.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BALL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ball from $70.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ball from $72.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ball from $69.00 to $59.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $49.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Ball in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ball from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.20.

Ball Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.